MEET THE TEAM!

Director - Marko Nine

Marko Nine is a songwriter/filmmaker whose friendship with members of the Last Poets has spanned many years, during which time he has endeavored to document their collective journey. In the musical arena, he has worked with Rob Hegel (Air Supply), Annie Burns (The Burns Sisters), Chris Butler (The Waitresses), Keith Levene (Public Image Ltd.), and Pat DiNizio (The Smithereens), and has composed music for television and feature films. His current film projects include adaptations of Peter Hoeg’s ‘The Quiet Girl’, Nicholas Christopher’s ‘The Soloist’ and Luke Rinehart’s ‘The Dice Man’.

Co-Writer - Rakaya Fetuga

Rakaya Fetuga is a writer, educator and arts producer based in London, holdinga BA in Literature and an MA in Fiction Writing. Awarded the STW Poetry Prize (2017) and the Roundhouse Slam (2018), she has performed across the UK and internationally. Commissions include work for BBC Creative, Bloomberg Philanthropies, KYRA TV and English Touring Theatre. As an educator, Rakaya works with the Poetry Society as Poet in Schools and is the Youth Engagement Manager at Rumi’s Cave. For the summer of 2020 Rakaya programmed an online workshop series for young women in collaboration with Apple for her
second year working on the Made in LDN project. Rakaya is currently working on her debut novel and is represented by Seren Adams of United Agents.

Co-Producer - Genevieve Thompson

GenevièveThompson is a writer, performance poet, and dramaturg. Currently working on her M.A. in Creative Writing, her work focuses on questions of freedom, agency, and homecoming. Her portfolio includes performance art projects at Shunt Lounge and Studio N1 in London, and a long history of slam poetry experiments in the U.S. Her theatre practice continues from her
start in western Massachusetts in the 1989, where her participation in political ensemble theatre challenging South African apartheid awakened her desire to see revolution activated. Since then she has made work engaging with social and political issues in New York, Baltimore, and London. Geneviève holds an M.A. in Performance Theory from Goldsmiths College, and a B.A. in Dramaturgy from Towson University. Geneviève is a citizen of the U.S. with roots in New York and Baltimore, and currently lives in and around the greater London area.

Producer JEZZ VERNON    IMDB LINK

Jezz Vernon has been Managing Director of Port Royal Media and Port Royal Distribution since 2016. He is also an Academic at the University of Exeter. Over the past decade he has produced, co-produced and exec produced, a range of feature films and documentaries including The Borderlands, Born in New York & Raised in Paris and People You May Know, as well as exec producing multiple other projects. He has won over 20 awards in his career alongside his team for marketing, release strategy, design and PR.

Previously he was Managing Director of UK Film Distributor and Sales Agent Metrodome, having joined the company in 2005. During his tenure he also oversaw production within the company from 2010. Metrodome’s releases include The Secret in Their Eyes (Academy Award Winner), The Counterfeiters (Academy Award Winner), I Am Love, Frances Ha, Tangerine, The Falling and Sunset Song. He has been a board member of strategic agency Film London since 2015 and also lectures at the National Film & Television School.

Director’s Statement

I have been privileged to enjoy many years of fruitful comradery with members of The Last Poets since our initial meeting. Based in Harlem for a good portion of that time, I have also engaged in conversations with Ta-Nehisi Coates, Thomas Chatterton Williams, and others within the black intelligentsia. This film will be a planetary polaroid of the cultural/political landscape known as Hip Hop in light of the new wave of race riots, as engendered by revolutionary voices such as the Watts Prophets, Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets. I intend to follow the on-going influence of the originators of Hip Hop to explore
where the true, transformative message has been obliterated and where it’s flourished.

Key Summary Points

• Guaranteed UK & international distribution
• Award winning, expert production team
• Strong track record of profitable films
• Investors may qualify for share of the Uk Film Tax Credit
• Full, transparent overview of the finance and production process
• Invest as individual or through a business

Full Investor involvement – range of options depending on investment level:

• Invitation to join regular zoom finance & production meetings
• Executive Producer credits
• Industry Screenings and Premieres
• Attend Film Markets & Festivals with the team